EghtesadOnline: The Petrochemical Research and Technology Company, a subsidiary of Iran's National Petrochemical Company, signed a memorandum of understanding this week with Shazand Petrochemical Company for the development of a high-tech catalyst dubbed 'SAC500'.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Seyyed Reza Norouz-Zadeh, the head of NPC, Habibollah Bitaraf, deputy oil minister for engineering, research and technology, Esmaeil Qanbari, the head of PRTC, and Ebrahim Valadkhani, the head SPC, Shana reported.

Qanbari said the move is aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in the supply of such materials in the petrochemical sector, adding that "10 types of such catalysts are currently produced in the country". SAC500 is used for the production of different grades of heavy-density polyethylene.

"Some 400,000 tons of heavy-density polyethylene are annually produced in the country by using 30 tons of the catalyst," Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.

Qanbari noted that Iran currently supplies SAC500 from China at an average price of $400 per kilogram, saying the indigenization of SAC500 could cut costs by up to $40 million.

Norouz-Zadeh stressed that measures should be taken to implement the agreement otherwise such deals will become a collection of mere archival documents.

The official expressed hope that other domestic plants will also follow the same path to address the sector's need for industrial catalysts.

The Shazand complex was established in Arak in Markazi Province in the vicinity of Imam Khomeini Oil Refinery of Shazand. Its first phase came on stream in 1993, and China, Turkey, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq are among its major customers.